Thursday, January 3, 2013

Standard 1 - 1951, English Version

STANDARD 1-1951

Part 1

Traffic
light turns red . All cars stop. Traffic situation in Kuala Lumpur today a
little unusual. Busy. It’s the start of the school day for the year 2013. A new
year.

There was
a car next to my car. On my right. I put a glimpse. The one that caught my attention was the small
child sitting in the rear seat of the car. Concentrated on his Ipad. Looking very confident.
"Just want to start schooling – Standard One " said my inner
feelings.

That sparked my imaginations when I was just about to go to school in Primary 1 in 1951.
Malaya (now Malaysia) at that time was still under British colonial
administration. White people, says Opah (grandmother).

It was dawn. About 5,.00 in the morning, I guess. We were too poor to
buy a clock or a watch, Hence there were no clock in my house. We relied on the
‘cock-crows’ ( kokok ayam ) to wake us up in the morning. But the irony is I
was never late to school. Always punctual. Sometimes received praise from my
teacher. Thanks to my Opah who was always ‘ on the dot’.

It was
really fun to be able to go to school. Not that I really keen to study. But it
is because of other attractions.. Firstly since my School (Malay Boys School Padang Rengas) is
close to Padang Rengas town, it was an opportunity for me to be in town almost
every day except on Friday and Saturday ( school holiday ).

I had rarely go to Padang Rengas, though
it is just two kilometers away from my village. The reason being that I had to
walk two kilometers to go to
Padang Rengas. There was no easy transport. And no proper road. Just a foot
path. So when I was able to go to school at Padang Rengas every day, it
provided me with a ‘ golden opportunity ‘
to buy ‘ Ice-Kepal ‘ ( Ice Ball ) at Majid Stall , under the Angsana
tree. Besides that I could also buy ‘ kundas ‘ (kind of cake that is only
available at mamak stalls in Padang Rengas!).

Opah
accompanied me to the wells. To have a bath. It was stii very dark . And the well was about twenty yards away
from the house. There was no electricity then. Opah used the oil gas lamp to
light the path from the house to the well.

Then the
water from the well was really very cold. We had to bear with it. 'Brush your
teeth" said Opah and handed to me the pounded charcoal to brush my teeth.
At that time there was no brush and toothpaste. Coal was used as a tooth paste
and to use a finger as ‘tooth brush’.

My shirt and pants was ready, properly ‘
ironed’ by my mother using the ‘ iron’ presumably used by the west during the
17th century. It is just my assumption.

By then 'Breakfast'
was ready. Mother who prepare for me. A boiled, partly ripe banana ‘Pisang Emas’.
You have to eat it with coconut mixed with sugar. Black coffeee. That was my breakfast and the type of
breakfast consumed by most of my friends. Compared with the 'breakfast' which
was enjoyed by my children and my grandchild, it was like ‘ jauh panggang dari
api’ ( a Malay proverb ).

My father
gave gave me 20 cents. As pocket money. A 20-cent coin. My mother tied the coin to a corner of
a handkerchief to avoid getting lost . There was no wallet then . With 20 cents I was able to buy
nasi lemak or meehun that cost 10 cents. 5 cents to buy a cake. And the balance
of 5 cents was to buy ‘ ais kepal ‘ ( ice ball) on the way home later. What
about drinking water? The answer is from the well of Pak Mansur near the school. Therein lies the source
of 'mineral water' for Free.

In an
atmosphere of silence and a misty morning my father sent me to school in his ‘Basikal
Tua’ ( old bicycle ). That was my first day at school.